The Flying Bath by Julia Donaldson and David Roberts (Macmillan Children's Books)

It's happy publication day today for a very special book indeed.

A new Julia Donaldson book is always a cause for huge celebration. She is a wordsmith extraordinaire, with her perfect rhymes and engaging stories. Teaming Julia up with one of our favourite artists, David Roberts, is a stroke of genius and we've seen this dazzling duo in action before in the rather fabulous "The Troll" (if you haven't read it yet, check out our review, it's a little smasher - and look out for the troll making a sneaky cameo in this book too!)

Ahhh a flying bath, imagine it, being able to fill up with warm soapy water and then flap off to any destination in the world. Though the bath in this story has a more serious purpose. The helpful little animals (Duck, Frog and Turtle) are like International Rescue. Wherever there's a need for water, they answer the call (and Charlotte absolutely LOVED all the different 'phones' that various thirsty animals use to call in their problems with).

A pig who is in dire need of a shower or a Baboon with his tree house on fire, nothing's too tricky for The Flying Bath!

A wondrous flight of imagination absolutely beautifully written, gorgeously illustrated, and with a fairly nice message about the true value of water across the planet. Absolutely excellent!

Charlotte's best bit: Baboon's Banana Phone and the sneaky Troll making a cameo near the end of the book!

Daddy's Favourite bit: JD makes it look SO easy to produce such memorable and readable rhymes. Likewise, David Roberts' illustrations are absolutely top drawer. What a team!

(Kindly sent to us for review by Macmillan Children's Books)